The thought that General Moly, Inc., would get the permission of the Bureau of Land Management to open the mine was particularly galling to enviros because Land and Water Conservation Fund money had been used to buy some of the land. And it came from the Trust for Public Land, which never would have agreed to the deal if it thought some mining company might get access through the Mining Law of 1872.

But there was a catch this time. General Moly also needed to lease some of the BLM’s land — that very land bought from TPL, with money Congress provided for land and water conservation. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray were both “surprised,” said Emily Platt, director of the Gifford Pinchot Task Force. She added:

That’s really one of the things the BLM was forced to pay a lot of attention to. It just didn’t make sense, particularly when this would be in community drinking watersheds and there’s threatened wild fish runs in the area and it’s a popular recreation areas. It wouldn’t be very popular for recreation with mining waste blowing through the air.

And she gives credit where it’s due — to the Bush administration:

We’re thrilled that the BLM is listening to the public and protecting these lands for the drinking water and recreation values that these lands currently represent.

Update 1:55 p.m.: Here is the BLM press release. We previously covered Cantwell’s efforts against the mine here.
Update 3:57 p.m.: Platt now says, based on her conversation with a Longview Daily News reporter, that the company has decided not to pursue any more mines in the area.